The present invention relates to footwear and especially to informal footwear, such as sandals, which have a plurality of wooden members held together to form the sole and heel portion of the sandal.
In the past, it has been common to provide a wide variety of footwear to cover the feet or portions of the feet of individuals for the protection of the feet. Common footwear today is made of leather, rubber, or synthetic materials, but it has been common in some countries, in the past, to provide wooden shoes. In addition, it has been suggested to make the sole or heels of shoes of wood. Inasmuch as wood or similar materials are not flexible, such footwear can be difficult to walk upon, but wood has been used in recent years to form portions of the heels of women's shoes as well as the bottoms of certain types of sandals. To make wood more flexible, sandals have been provided which have the wood broken into sections, which are held together so that the sections can bend from one to the other. In contrast to these, the present invention is directed towards shoes having a plurality of slats connected similar to tambour doors in which the slats are shaped to form the bottom of the shoe. Each of the slats has a generally square or rectangular cross-section except for the toe and heel portions which are curved to conform to the shoe. The large number of slats can thereby separate over their length by the bending of the flexible material holding the slats together. The flexing of the shoes tends to make a clacking type of noise, which tends to appeal to certain purchasers of shoes. The shoes also allow for a wide variety of uppers to be attached to make a wide variety of sandals from the same sole and heel portions.